Where there is a spark, there GETS to be a flame. Where there is a flame, there can be a bright fire of transformation. Where there is an inferno, there is a transmutation of a previous form. This is as true of a blacksmith’s fire as it is of the human emotional body. Rumi is clear, “Passion burns down all branches of exhaustion.”
When one is passionate and driven by deep purpose, even the previously considered states of impossibility are transcended and nothing can stop one’s gifts from shining radiantly, brilliantly forth. One impassioned, creative force of a being tends to light up those around him or her. We love these people, watch them, admire them, and are sparked by them in someway to light up our own ideas and inspirations of passion for purpose and a specific life’s calling.

We don’t have to, but we get to be sparked. We do not ever have to live inspired. We get to live inspired. We get to be shifted by that which creatively moves us towards more impactful expressions of ourselves.

We get to spark each other. We get to be that which holds another accountable to the gifts we see and encouraging those gifts to finding a cause to burn radiantly alive and as a source that truly serves the whole.

The spark is there. The inspiration is available. What keeps us from lighting up? The fire of transformation is a tricky one.

A fiery inferno is not guaranteed by a single spark, it is merely invited by its presence and there are a million things that keep the mundane, mundane and the extraordinary seemingly out of reach.

Inspiration itself may not be enough.

Other aspects must find themselves as co-inspirators to the swiftness of the ignition point. Each glowing ember will need conspirators for the fire to find full expression. There must be a breeze of collaboration to breathe the spark into bright life and there must be a source from which it can burn.

The spark = what inspires each of us and helps bring out the light of our unique gifts to shine and share.

The breeze = the breath of radical self-participation and the sharing of effort, elbow grease and life force with the spark of inspiration.

The source = one’s north star, a sense of foundational freedom, the deepest resources of being nature and those in our lives that lovingly support and up lift that.

The combination of those three aspects is the fire of passion in accordance with the human heart. The fire that results transforms each of us and calls forward a new way of living. We are called to live from creativity rather than doubt or lack.

Creative living does not mean one MUST paint, take pictures, write poetry, or bake magnificent cakes. It means to live on new and inspired terms from the resources of what truly uplifts one’s avenues of self-expression, whatever those are.

Creative living means to allow that self-expression to heal old versions of self and carve new pathways of both being and becoming one’s highest version of purpose. Living from passionate purposes, we get to serve as embodied sources and sparks to others. For creativity to have full cycle, it is shared.

Creativity is the antidote to stress, anxiety, fear, and self-limitation. Creativity shows us that there is always another way in or out of any situation and that that which is considered “reality” will continue to shift and change beyond our wildest imagination.

Creativity is the ability to navigate those changes. Creativity is born from simple sparks and gathers momentum by the manner in which we serve and nurture that singular and important catalyst.

That we are offered a spark does not mean it will catch. That we are invited into creative living does not mean we will. There are at least one million details that snuff out the light of inspiration, that douse a spark or small flame before it has the opportunity to really burn. These are the details of undoing. These are what we consider fixed spaces and places of limited “reality”: to do lists, degrees, time, money, and old-patterned relationships that grow into oxygen deficient self-perceived limitation zones; wherein a spark goes unseen and falls to ash quickly. These “realities” suffocate our personal skills sets and necessary gifts and hold the ability to shut us down just short of brilliance.

Therefore, SPARKING gets to be a choice as practice. We can practice being sparked, breathing into our beliefs, and gathering the sources from which we will need to draw. We We get to, because we never have to, practice beyond what may have been reality yesterday, as an old story, but we choose to light it up into a burning, passionate, inspired new story for tomorrow. We get to start practicing living amongst our sparks today in the now and watching our patterns when one catches. We get to heal spaces where we hold our breath and starve that light or try to light life with a zero sum set of fuel. We get to practice a readiness, put life creatively in the most auspicious wood pile for inspiration to begin to smoke out the old stagnant versions of the “real”.

Getting sparked and stoking a flame IS practice, just as much as it could be luck. It is hard to authentically and consciously justify waiting around for luck. Just like a yoga “on the mat” practice, one gets more fluent in his or her body across time and with persistence. A body generally does not get stronger, more flexible, more balanced by simply waiting for it to occur. One must wobble, waver, and practice.

Further, by putting ourselves in front of and amongst those that enliven us, collaboratively practicing, we have an expanded resource of radiance and opportunity to catch on fire. By showing up to activities that renew us, polish us, and remind each of us of our unique gifts, we serve to reinforce our sense of source, our “north star-ness,” our deep driving desire to trust, connect, and be foundationally free in collectives that support a growth in that anchored expansion. We step into a practice of being part of something bigger than a singular sense of self and separation.

To be in practice with this, we get to ask questions of our lives and those we with whom we share them. “What practices and ways of expending my energy feed my soul?”

“What keeps me from these activities?”
“Are my habits stronger than my intentions?”
“Am I willing to shift habits to be more in alignment with how I intend to live.”
“Are the people I am surrounding myself with lighting me up and inspiring my creative being nature?”
“Are those closest to me part of my old story or my new?”
“Am I living in accord with my creative heart… do I know what that is?”

Once you know WHAT it is that brightens you. Feed it. Tend to it.

Once you know who in your life lights you, lifts you, and helps aims a breeze of encouragement at your precious tiny flames, thank them. Then ask them how they see you, where your strengths reside, what inspires them about the way you live in the world. You will be surprised at how you are not merely sparked by others, but how YOU spark.

Further, ask of yourself this “How am I limiting myself by not seeing myself the way YOU see me?”

Inspiration may not be enough. We will need each other to fan the flames and serve the sources.

Can you imagine, living out loud? Can you imagine being heard? Can you imagine seeing? Can you imagine being seen? Can you imagine living in “the beautiful world you know is possible,” as a full citizen or deep and connected, soulful participation?

Of course you can and we, once you are lit up, get to watch you burn with a life force

NONE of us could have ever expected. We look forward to thanking you for that.